A search operation to find six missing people continues in eastern China a day after a huge explosion rocked a chemical plant in Shandong province, killing at least five people and injuring 19.
It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion at the Gaomi Youdao Chemical Co.
The plant is located in an industrial park in the city of Weifang and manufactures pesticides as well as chemicals for medical use, and has more than 500 employees, according to corporate registration records.
The blast, which happened at around noon, was powerful enough to knock out windows at a warehouse more than three kilometres away, according to a video shared by a resident, who declined to give his name out of concern about retaliation.
Local fire officials sent more than 230 personnel to the scene, according to state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV).
A student at a school around 900 metres away from the plant told state-run news site The Paper that he heard one explosion and saw dirt-yellow smoke, tainted with redness, rising from the plant. He said there was a funny smell and all students were given a mask and told not to remove it.
A staffer at the local environment bureau told The Paper that a team was dispatched to the scene to monitor potential pollution but had yet to report back.
The blast comes less than two weeks after the National Ministry of Emergency Management held a workshop on preventing and controlling risks in the chemical industry, as Beijing urged officials at chemical industrial parks to boost their capabilities in "managing hazardous chemicals."
Last year, the chemical plant was cited for "safety risks" at least twice, but in September it was praised by the Weifang Emergency Management Bureau for relying on party members to effectively manage workplace risks.
Specifically, party members at Gaomi Youdao identified more than 800 safety hazards in the first eight months of 2024 and rectified all of them, the bureau said.
Workplace safety has improved over the years in China but remains a stubborn problem. The National Ministry of Emergency Management recorded 21,800 incidents and 19,600 deaths in 2024.
A warehouse complex storing large amounts of hazardous chemicals caught fire and exploded in Tianjin in 2015, leaving 173 dead or missing.
In 2019, 78 people were killed in an explosion at a chemical plant in Yancheng in China's eastern coastal province of Jiangsu.
